Drama Terminology 12
This list of terms builds on the preceding lists you have been given in grades 9-11. It contains
all the terms you were responsible for learning in the past, as well as the new terms you are
now responsible for learning for the exam.
o The new terms are marked with (NT): New Term.
o Government exam terms are marked with an asterisk (*).
General Terms
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Drama*: In the most general sense, “drama” is work designed to be represented on
a stage by actors. More strictly, however, a drama is a serious play (though it may
end either happily or unhappily) dealing with a problem of importance.
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Dramatic Form*: This refers to the organization of the writing in a script, whereby
the speakers are listed, their speech is written, and stage directions tell the actors
how to deliver their lines. The beginning of each scene or act also has information
detailing what the stage should look like.
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Dramatis Personae: The list of characters in a play so the audience knows who is
who before the action begins. Provided at the beginning of the play’s script.
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Play: The performed dramatic production seen on stage in live theater
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Script: The words printed on paper spoken by the actors
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Act: A chunk of the play’s action. Shakespeare’s plays always have five acts that are
noted with a large Roman numeral.
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Scene: A division of action within an act. Shakespeare’s plays have a variety of
numbers of scenes that are noted with a small Roman numeral.
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Line: A single line of writing in a play noted with Arabic numbers.
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Pathetic Fallacy: This is an artistic device whereby Nature reflects a character’s
feelings and/or the mood of the events in the literature, which means pathetic
fallacy is a setting reinforcement. Because it is just a reflection, pathetic fallacy also
falls short of full personification. Pathetic fallacy carries over the moods and
passions of a human being to inanimate objects or, more particularly, mirrors
human emotion in nature, animals, or objects. For example: "Nature must be
gladsome when I was so happy"; or “nature weeps” for a given character’s sorrow
(as a reference to rain).
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Stage Direction: A direction by the playwright to the actors in the script. It
indicates how the actor should speak and/or move during a particular line or scene.
It also provides descriptions of what the stage should look like in terms of furniture,
weather, lighting, music, etc.
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Monologue*: A single fictional speaker—usually a performance actor—gives an
extended speech, either as if alone on stage (like a Shakespearian soliloquy) or as if
speaking to a fictional audience. The personality of the character and significant
events in his/her life are revealed by the speech. If the speaker delivers the
monologue to a fictional audience, the reader also gets information about that
audience, because the monologue’s comments and questions allow the reader to
infer information in that area. Also known as monodrama.

Dialogue*: When two or more speakers speak to one another; the spoken
exchanges that comprise a play.
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Interior monologue*: The depiction of the thoughts and feelings that flow, with no
apparent logic, through the mind of a character. Although the term is essentially
interchangeable with stream of consciousness (see the story terms handout), it has
been argued that an interior monologue is an even more direct depiction of the
character’s consciousness. (NT)
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Pathos*: The quality in a work of literature that evokes feelings of pity, tenderness,
and sympathy from the reader. A pathetic object, such as Lady Macbeth, by the end
of the play in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, usually suffers helplessly, but a tragic hero’s
death is too great a fall to be described as pathetic (which is why it is tragic). (NT)
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Dramatic Irony*: When a character says something, but the audience knows more
than the character does about other characters or events, so the statement comes
across with a double meaning that the audience “gets” and the character doesn’t. It
is dramatic irony when Juliet first sees Romeo and says if she can’t marry him, she
will die, because the audience knows that by the end of the play she does marry him,
and she dies anyway. The character’s expectations and the audience’s knowledge
differ in dramatic irony.
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Farce *: This word refers to any play which evokes laughter by such devices of low
comedy as physical buffoonery, rough wit, ridiculous situations, or slapstick
behaviours. Farce is not concerned with character subtlety or plot probability; farce
is simply out to get a laugh any way it can. (NT)
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Melodrama*: In terms of character, melodrama is a play of extremes. The incredibly
evil villain plots against the supremely virtuous hero or heroine in an action that
depicts the conflict between the polar opposites of good and evil. There is little
subtlety in a melodrama, and little complexity of character, but extremes of emotion
attract the audience. (NT)
Terms Derived From Studies of Shakespeare
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Blank Verse*: Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare’s plays are mostly
written in blank verse. See below for a definition of iambic pentameter.
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Aside*: When a character says something privately to another character while other
characters are also on stage. The line(s) are meant for one character’s ears alone.
Sometimes asides are addressed to the audience.
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Comic Relief *: A humorous scene, incident, or remark within an essentially serious
or even tragic drama. Following scenes of intense emotion, comic relief evokes
laughter as a release from the tension of the serious action.
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Iambic Pentameter*: A line of poetry that is ten syllables in length. The syllables
follow a pattern in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one (such
as the word “giraffe”), so the line of poetry bounces gently along (soft- hard-softhard-soft-hard-soft-hard-soft-hard). For example, when Romeo says, “O, she doth
teach the torches to burn bright” (Romeo and Juliet, I.v.44), he is speaking in iambic
pentameter. The following is an example of iambic pentameter (in this case, blank
verse) from Hamlet:
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To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part… (I.v.14-18)
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Prologue*: An opening section of a longer work such as a novel or a play. The
prologue may perform a number of functions: establish and/or anticipate character,
theme, action or setting, etc. Romeo and Juliet opens with a prologue, which is in the
form of a sonnet. See your poetry terms handout for the definition of sonnet.
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Pun*: This is a play on words in which a word or phrase can be taken to mean more
than one thing.
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Soliloquy*: When a character speaks his/her true thoughts and feelings while alone
on stage. Soliloquies reveal the character’s “real” thoughts on a subject.
Terms Derived From Studies of Greek Drama
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Catastrophe*: The concluding action of a drama, especially a classical tragedy such
as those written by the ancient Greeks or by Shakespeare. The catastrophe follows
the climax and contains a resolution of the plot. The catastrophe of a play is like the
denouement of a short story. In the case of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the
catastrophe is Puck’s speech at the end.

Chorus*: Originally a group of masked male dancers who sang or chanted as part of
ceremonies in Greek drama, the chorus was imitated by the Elizabethans and often
reduced to a single figure. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet the chorus speaks the
prologue and introduces Act 2. Choruses are rare in modern plays.

Comedy*: Any literary work, but especially a play, that commonly has a happy
ending. Modern comedies tend to be funny, while Shakespearean comedies simply
end well. Shakespearean comedy also contains items such as misunderstandings
and mistaken identity to heighten the comic effect. Often, comedies end in
marriage(s). A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy.
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Tragedy*: Aristotle defines tragedy as an imitation of a complete action “of high
importance” (trans. L. J. Potts). Tragedy is a form of drama exciting pity and/or fear
in the audience; as a result, viewers are provided with an experience of catharsis or
cleansing of emotions. Not only should a tragedy’s action be single and complete, it
should be written in poetry embellished with every kind of artistic expression,
involve persons of stature, and present a reversal of Fortune.
o Romeo and Juliet (grade ten) and Macbeth (grade eleven) are tragedies.
Hamlet is a tragedy, and many argue that Death of a Salesman is a tragedy as
well.
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Tragic Hero: A tragic hero is a person of high estate who has the potential for
greatness. The person is pre-eminently virtuous and just, but his/her misfortune is
brought about, in part, by an error in judgement. The tragic hero has a flaw in
his/her character, which contributes to his/her destruction. In traditional Greek
tragedies, often the tragic flaw is hubris, an excessive pride that causes the hero to
ignore a divine warning or to break a moral law. The downfall of the tragic hero
frequently involves the element of fate. Overall, the tragic hero has the potential for
greatness; however, s/he does not achieve this greatness because of the combined
forces of the tragic flaw and fate. Once the tragic hero has committed him/herself to
a course of action, there is no turning back. A chain of events occurs because of this
commitment, leading to his/her final destruction. Despite shortcomings, the tragic
hero “falls” with dignity. The audience empathizes with the tragic hero because of
the contrast between the potential greatness of the hero and the reality of what
actually occurs to him/her. It has been suggested that because the tragic hero's
suffering is greater than his offence, the audience feels pity. (NT)
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Tragic Flaw: The protagonist of a tragedy has a serious fault, the tragic flaw, that
leads to his/her downfall and death. (NT)
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Hubris: In traditional Greek tragedies, the tragic hero’s tragic flaw is often pride to
excess, which is called hubris. (NT)
Catharsis: The terror and pity felt by the audience of a tragedy produce catharsis, a
cleansing or purifying of emotion. The audience should feel empty and limp after
watching, reading, or otherwise participating in a tragedy; that feeling of emptiness
is catharsis. (NT)
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